Egyptian Internet, Mobile Shutdown Cost Country $90 Million Plus

The five to six days that the Egyptian government closed down the internet and cell phone access cost the country over $90 million dollars, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

“The current shutdown of Internet and communications services for five days will have a pronounced economic impact. It is estimated to have incurred direct costs of at minimum USD 90 million. This amount refers to lost revenues due to blocked telecommunications and Internet services, which account for around USD 18 million per day, or, on a yearly scale, for roughly 3-4% of GDP,” the OECD reported.

The longer term losses have yet to be calculated. Egypt had a healthy IT and tech support industry to which many companies outsourced, but with the current unrest companies may not be so fast to use them as a resource. “IT outsourcing firms in Egypt made USD 1 billion in revenues in 2010 (or around USD 3 million per working day), servicing overseas customers through call centres, helpdesks, etc”.